Rosalie Minnitt picks her Perfect Playlist of Comedy Favourites

Rosalie Minnitt performs the last run of her debut show, the Jane Austen spoof Clementine – originally a hit at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe – at London’s Soho Theatre this week. Here she share some of her comedy favourites ...

Julio Torres My Favourite Shapes

I remember seeing this show for the first time in 2017 at my first Edinburgh Fringe. It was one of the first days of his run and there were only about four people in the room. 

I didn’t know who he was or that he’d go on to write for Saturday Night Live where he famously penned the Papyrus sketch. He sat in front of us, bleach blonde in a dazzling silver one-piece, looking bemused and a little bored. 

What ensued was one of my favourite hours of comedy to this day. Two people left midway through the show but, completely unfazed, he continues to launch into a story about the tragedy of Daisy Duck overdressing. 

His comedic style is magically specific, flamboyantly otherworldly and drenched in pop culture. I’d never seen anyone do comedy like that before - I didn’t really think you could do comedy like that. That’s like modern art without it feeling pretentious or impenetrable. 

That show has and continues to be such a big influence on me. It’s a masterclass in comedic specificity, world building and making sharp, imaginative bold choices without shouting about it. His comedy feels so impossibly colourful - there isn’t really another way to describe it. 

Broad City / Portlandia

These two shows sort of occupy the same place in my brain. I didn’t grow up in the UK so I’ve always been a lot more into American comedy. (I know! Sacrilege!) 

I just adore Broad City. It’s kind of like the off-kilter pure comedy version of HBO Girls. Even though Girls is very, very funny in its own right. I still reference Broad City all the time and it’s one of the only shows that never fails to make me laugh out loud. 

Abbie and Ilana’s world manages to be both truly absurd and familiar. Warm and stupid. It’s a show that is so refreshingly unconcerned in making female characters likeable or unlikable. They’re just funny. It’s also one of my favourite depictions of female friendship on TV because it’s basically a show about two friends trying to make each other laugh. What could be better?

@hulu You’re not a baby, you’re a man. Enough said. #BroadCity ♬ original sound - hulu

Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids 

I remember going to see this film in the cinema when it came out. Me, my mum and my sister went on ladies’ night in Holland. The audience were given free prosecco and were therefore uncharacteristically raucous for a midweek Dutch crowd. 

Packed with SNL's finest female performers, it was such a watershed moment when it came out. All the comedy characters in that film were big and bold, but they weren’t caricatures, and it paved the way for so much of what we see on TV now. I mainly just loved watching my mum laugh at that film. 

Anything Limmy does

I still don’t really understand why Limmy isn’t everywhere. Limmy’s baffling style of humour isn’t just absurd or about making ordinary things funny, he’s able to make jokes about things I’ve genuinely never thought of before. His running sketch is still one of my all-time favourites. So many people hate it, and it makes me love him even more.

The ‘After’ Franchise 

Where do I start with this? The After franchise is not something I imagine most Chortle readers know or indeed care about. It’s based on Harry Styles fanfiction even though the author insists on calling them ‘novels’. 

There are also already five films, even though there isn’t really a discernible plot or storyline. Hero Fiennes Tiffin is the ultimate nepo baby but he doesn’t seem to have inherited any acting chops from his uncle Raph. Hero’s takes his role in this franchise very seriously indeed, as is evident in all of the press, and Wattpad Studios is an absolute treasure trove of delight. I can’t recommend their work enough. 

I would also recommend simply going on Amazon Prime and typing in any random array of words. Click ‘more like this’six  times and you’ll unlock some of the worst films ever made. 

Romain calling Davina a Snake in Selling Sunset

Selling Sunset is one of the funniest things Netflix has ever made. Romain is the beloved French himbo of the franchise who, after living in LA now for over seven years, still doesn’t seem to be able to really speak English. 

He was originally introduced to us as a baker, then suddenly became a builder and now, most recently, switched to modelling. Not a candlestick maker, though. Shame but there’s still time for this renaissance man! His flurry of side hustles doesn’t stop him from stirring the pot, though. 

After remaining silent for almost an entire season, he randomly calls Davina a snake and un-invites her from his wedding. His Instagram is also perfect. He uses so many hashtags. His most recent gym post was captioned, ‘Grind different, shine different.’ Perfect. 

This pop culture nugget is second only perhaps to Yolanda Hadid talking about the Master Cleanse on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. If you know, you know. 

[There doesn’t appear to be a clip of this moment online]

Ben Barnes’ accent in the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Before writing this I read through quite a few other playlists written by fellow comedians. I was surprised that Ben Barnes in the Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian hadn’t been mentioned. 

To this day, I think this is one of the finest comedic performances of a generation and it’s a hill I will willingly die on. It’s almost impossible to pick a favourite moment, there are so many to choose from. Is it the moment his half-hearted Spanish accent mysteriously slips throughout the film - only for it to disappear entirely for absolutely no reason whatsoever? 

Incidentally, the accent is nowhere to be found in the third film which I’m still waiting for the filmmakers to address. Or, perhaps, it’s when he makes an unlikely friendship in the woods with a badly rendered CGI mouse and declares astutely, "You are a mouse!" Yes, Ben! We can’t blame the script on him entirely but his delivery is second to none. 

• Rosalie Minnitt’s 'Clementine' runs from September 11 to 14 at Soho Theatre at 9.15pm Tickets here.

Published: 9 Sep 2024